Tell Virginia House Delegates: Yes to Recycling, No to Bans and Taxes!

Delegates on the Virginia House Finance Committee unanimously voted down a proposed ordinance to impose a statewide 5-cent tax on plastic grocery bags; instead, they decided to delay discussions on the issue until 2013.

With more than 800 locations accepting sacks, bags and wraps for recycling and as a participant in A Bag's Life, Virginia is leading the way. The state is also home to five facilities that support 1,000 Virginian families.

Show your support of Virginia's recycling approach and ask Delegates Lee Ware and Harry Purkey to keep bag taxes and bans permanently off of the table. Tell them that there's a better way to clean up Virginia, one that's already in place and doesn't hurt Virginian jobs and families.

Subject: Don't Tax Virginia's Bags!

Dear Decision Maker:

Thank you for opposing the recently proposed 5-cent tax on plastic grocery bags. As a Virginia resident, the idea of being charged a fee simply for choosing plastic bags in the checkout line is not one that I can support. A tax on plastic bags is a tax on me.

My concern is that anti-bag legislation is grounded in misinformation, including the false claims that plastic bags cannot be recycled and are made from petroleum, when in reality plastic bags are actually made from natural gas and are 100 percent recyclable. Plastic bags are more resource-efficient and generate far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the alternatives.

Furthermore, bag legislation does not take into account the thousands of Americans who work in the plastic bag manufacturing and recycling industry including the 1,000 families supported by the five plants located right here in Virginia. And with unemployment at a record high, shouldn't Virginia's legislators be focused on more pressing issues instead of taxing our families even more when they can least afford it?

The proposed ordinance would also diminish successful recycling efforts that are helping to increase plastic bag recycling across Virginia. I hope you'll continue building upon the great work already underway to grow and strengthen recycling in Virginia.

There is a better way to address plastic litter without jeopardizing Virginia jobs and families. Burdening consumers by imposing a bag tax is the wrong approach. If you're serious about cleaning up Virginia, please encourage the expansion and continuation of Virginia's already successful recycling infrastructure instead of implementing an expensive and regressive tax or ban.

Sincerely,

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Virginia House Delegates Lee Ware and Harry Purkey

Bag the Ban

Say no to bans and taxes on your grocery bags.

Tell Virginia House Delegates: Yes to Recycling, No to Bans and Taxes!

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